A website that is useful and relevant will always get you the best results - the best results for your customers or members, and the best results with search engines.

How search engines work

We all know how much we need them, but do you know how search engines really work?

Search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Bing trawl through the content on a webpage or website, and analyse the headings, text, structure, links and images. Based on the search engine’s mathematical logic, key words or phrases within the webpage are each given a certain amount of relevance. eg. If a webpage exists to sell a dog training service, then headings and text about training methods and costs will make it highly relevant, whereas content about flea protection will make it less relevant.

Search engines understand what terms are relevant, because of 1. the related terms people use to search for things, and 2. which websites they select from the displayed results. eg. “dog + training” will be entered much for commonly than “flea + training”, although both are indeed valid. A user who searches for “dog + training” will be more likely to browse the first few results and select a page or site that relates to dog training services (or methods or videos) than selecting a page about dog flea solutions.

Here are some simple tips that you can employ yourself to improve your search engine optimisation (SEO). Glo Digital has the knowledge and expertise to use these tips, and much, much more, to significantly improve your site’s search ranking.

Page title

The page title is the most important thing to get right in search engine optimisation. Page titles appear at the top of the browser window and usually as a title above your page content. They must be relevant to page content.

Page content

Should be styled using Heading tags to group content. Relevant keywords should be dispersed throughout the page content. Links and words in bold text are weighted higher than regular text so use wisely on important words or phrases.

Images

Search engines cannot interpret an image by looking at it in the same way humans do. It is up to us to describe the image to the search engine. Descriptions (alt tags) must be added to all images, and they must be meaningful.

Hyperlinks

The more times a page is linked to, the higher that page will be ranked against other pages. By choosing relevant words to link to other pages you will increase the chance of the page being found via search. Link text must describe the destination and please do NOT use “click here” as the link text.

Common sense

The number one rule of thumb is do not try to cheat. Every day search engines adjust their algorithms used to determine page rank. If you try to beat the system it will be detected and your rank will be penalised. Simply try to make your page easy for humans to read and navigate.

DIY versus Expert services

Sure, you are the expert in your business, so why can’t you do it all yourself? Well, you can of course. We’ve already given you some of the tips. But you’ll use your time and money most effectively if you take care of business, and let us take care of your SEO.

Our people are trained in Writing for the Web. We understand how people use the internet. We take the time to understand our customers’ needs. We can expertly optimise your website and your search engine ranking.

What we actually do for you

1. Talk with you to understand your organisation
2.  Understand what you want to achieve
3. Review your website content and structure
4.  Actually make the changes for you; or just make recommendations if you prefer
5. Develop a Search Optimisation or Search Marketing campaign

Customer case studies for SEO

Artisan

Glo Digital developed a search engine optimisation campaign for Artisan, online sellers of crafts and artwork. Using the metrics of their online store, Artisan were able to measure the direct improvement brought about by our search engine optimisation campaign.

Refresh Properties

Although they are experts at “Refreshing Properties”, they needed us to refresh their website.

We improved their organic search ranking by ensuring that the website contained highly relevant words in all the right places. We increased the level of customer inquiry through the addition of a monitored Google Adwords campaign.

What else can you do?

You may have heard the related terms of Search Engine Marketing, or Adwords. Read our related article on “Adwords and search engine marketing” to see how a small, regular investment can make a big, overall difference.

Start making a difference to your bottom line now by contacting us.